10/12/2026
This collection of pictures depicts the service of Florence Bottle, a member of the WAVES - the US Navy's womens' auxiliary - during World War Two. Her daughter wrote the following account of her mother in about 2015, when the collection was donated to the Homeville Museum:
Florence Bottle was 18 years old and a new graduate of Greene High School in 1941. Then our country went to war in December of that year. She wanted to do something to help her country, but if you were not a nurse you couldn’t get into the military at the time. The WAVES, a branch of the Navy, was created in 1942. However, she could not join until she was 20 years old, which was the rule then. Florence joined up for the duration of the war in August 1943.
Her boot camp training was at Hunter College in the Bronx, New York City. After her time there, she was transferred to Washington DC, where she attended the Navy’s version of culinary school. People have asked her how she handled the discipline of boot camp and barracks life. She always responded, “I was one of eight children who lived on a farm so I was used to hard work and sharing a room.”
In DC she lived at the WAVES barracks “D”, the largest base for WAVES in the United States. When female members of the Navy who were not nurses were finally allowed to be stationed overseas, she volunteered and was among the fifth group of WAVES to leave the States. The women were sent to Hawaii to fill the positions of men sent to fight in the Pacific theater.
As the islands became more secure, the military on Hawaii were allowed to go to the beaches during their free time, which my mother enjoyed very much.
When she was discharged in May 1946 as a Seaman Cook 2nd Class, she immediately joined the American Legion right there in Hawaii (I still have her card, which she carried proudly).
In June 1946, back in Chenango County, Florence married SeaBee William Lessard, whom she had met in Hawaii.
In 2014 I took my mother on the Honor Flight Mission #3 from Syracuse to Washington DC. She was thrilled and very surprised at the reception the veterans received. Seeing the WWII monument with her was awesome as she was trying to take it all in and visit with other veterans. Many school groups and young military women came up to her for a picture and to ask questions. They couldn’t believe she was 90 years old and had been stationed there 70 years ago. When asked why she enlisted and what it was like to be among the first group of WAVES, Mom just said, “I was only doing my duty to help my country.” That is how she lived.
